Saturday, September 24, 2011

As one of our goals that we decided upon at the last meeting was the passage of GENDA, I have taken it upon myself to create this petition on change.org as well.

From the Empire State Pride Agenda:

"The Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (A.5039/Gottfried)(S.2873/Duane) is a bill that would outlaw discrimination in New York State based on gender identity and/or expression. Currently it is legal in New York to be fired from your job, kicked out of your home or be denied credit or public accommodations (like service in a restaurant) simply for being transgender. GENDA also expands the state’s hate crimes law to explicitly include crimes against transgender people.

The Facts
Transgender New Yorkers face severe discrimination. For example, a report released this year by the Empire State Pride Agenda showed that: 20.7% of transgender New Yorkers have incomes under $10,000 a year. Most recently, in 2011, Findings of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey completed by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force report that 74% of transgender New Yorkers experienced harassment or mistreatment on the job, 20% lost a job and 37% were not hired at all. An alarming 18% of transgender New Yorkers had become homeless because of their gender identity or expression. Health care discrimination for transgender New Yorkers is also very alarming with a 17% rate of individuals who were refused medical care due to their gender identity or expression."

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

-Better attendance
-Specific programming during meetings
-More parents involved
-Petition Baseball Hall of Fame to honor the legacy of Glenn Burke. (I have taken the liberty of creating a petition on Change.org. Sign the petition here.
-Work on passage of GENDA
-Creation of anti-bullying program for high-schools and work with GSRC towards this goal.